R1: Crowd is digging Rickels, who grew up 15 minutes away. Rickels connects with an inside low kick and has a high kick blocked. Rickels is heavy on the trigger and Ambrose clinches up and puts him on the fence. Rickels circles off and bombs a knee upstairs and down. Ambrose drops for a double leg but Rickels bases out and stands upright with an underhook. Ambrose is back on another double; Rickels defends and lands double lefts on the separation.

They collide with punches and Rickels lands the cleaner of the bunch, and they were zingers. Ambrose seems to clinch out of frustration or desperation and Rickels plants a spearing knee in his gut. Ambrose goes down but explodes into action upon hitting his back, standing back up and showing good gameness. Rickels smells blood and straight-up headhunts with a series of charging flurries. Rickels ends up on top throwing punches but Ambrose defends and somehow sweeps into top position. Big balls on this kid. He finishes out on top and narrowly avoids 10-8 standards. 10-9 Rickels.

R2: The pair both giggle after an awkward miscommunication with the glove touch. Rickels gets down to business by establishing his killer left hook again, popping Ambrose in the mouth early. Rickels is just a buzz-saw of violence, stalking Ambrose at a tenacious pace and winging nonstop leather at him. Rickels again counters Ambrose's clinch with a knee downstairs but J.J. changes levels for a double leg.

Rickels wins the hand-fight and snakes on double underhooks with a closed guard to get the restart. Back on the feet, Rickels uncorks a cleaving body kick that drops Ambrose, then flies off the handle trying to finish. I don't even know what the hell happened because I can't keep up with the pace, but Rickels ends up on his back. Rickels controls the action from guard with a close triangle, then boots Ambrose off of him to continue the mauling on the feet. 10-8 Rickels. It was dominant and one-sided.

R3: Rickels is a madman tonight. Fearless, he preys on Ambrose with explosive salvos while almost jogging after him. "Caveman" lands a nasty left hook to the body as Ambrose shoots, then goes from the front headlock to reverse triangle position, thudding beefy punches and elbows to Ambrose's exposed back and ribcage. Rickels, aided by having his back against the fence in reverse triangle mount, chops away with more unanswered blows until the ref shows mercy.